Category: walking

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25 REASONS TO CHECK OUT BACK PAIN BLOG NEWS FOR FEBRUARY…

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The sun is shining and the sky is blue, it’s a beautiful spring day today and we managed a nice walk in the pleasant warm sunshine. When we got back I sat outside with a cup of tea and tried to think of some interesting post I could write about on my blog. With my blog being mainly about pain and how to tackle it, it makes it quite hard to write something uplifting.

“Getting your readers interested in the first paragraph”, they say, is the key to the reader wanting to read more. So, I took a quick look through all my posts this month and initially I was quite surprised at how many I had written, 25 in total. My posts covered a selection of different subjects from pain relief through acupoints to Walking and the British obsession with the weather.

I looked at my stats to see if readers favored any particular post more than another but surprisingly my stats are pretty much the same on a daily basis. I looked at other sites that are similar to mine and I noticed that some wrote newsletters. I used to write newsletters quite a few years ago now but these were handmade news letters with a pretty bow on as they were for a ladies over 50’s group that I used to run. Of course, that took time and a lot of it and I know my back would not appreciate that sort of work any more. But it gave me an idea on writing a post at the end of every month on the posts that I had written that month (are you still with me?). So, without further adieu I will write on 24 reasons you should check out Back Pain Blog UK.

A few of my posts on Back Pain Blog were focused around acupoints and the benefits of different types of treatments you can have to help for your pain.

1. Teach Yourself Hand Reflexology is the perfect post on this type of treatment. followed by an article on

2. Auricular Therapy which is another type of treatment using acupoints only in your ears this time.

3. Acupuncture Another Natural Approach to Pain explains all about Acupuncture and the benefits you can get from this type of therapy.

4. Trigger Point Therapy is for acute and chronic pain and acupuncture and something you could perform on yourself in your own home, so it’s well worth reading this article.

5. Myofascial Release Therapy and Myofascial Pain

6. I also wrote about A Day in the Life of Ravi-Jaipaul founder of Yoke Wellness and a truly inspirational guy who overcame some awful injuries after a cycling accident and then set up Yoke Wellness.

7. I was gifted his mats and wrote a review on them as they are amazing acupressure mats and could not be happier with the outcome.

8. My awareness days this month were raising the awareness of Raynauds Disease, and

9. Tittinus Awareness week, check out my article here.

10. Other news in February included my personal trip and outcome from my first Covid-19 jab.

11. Plus an article I wrote on Covid-19 and Fibromyalgia, and

12. Pain Medication and Covid-19.

Some other interesting health related news are –

13. How to tell the Difference between x rays and scans.

14. Eight ways to create movement and energy into you day and

16. Bake Yourself Calm – I love baking and find it does calm me down and feel fulfilled when the cake is cooked and ready to hand out, and my family love it when they get a text from me saying I would be dropping off my bakes.

My regular Sleep Sunday slot in February covered –

17. Natural Sleep Aids and

18. How much Children and Teenagers Sleep

19. Simple Walking can vastly Improve Your Health and Wellbeing, but I think we all know this anyway, it’s just motivating ourselves to make it a regular occurrence.

This month I wrote a few articles covering pain with –

20. What is good and bad pain and how should we deal with it,

21. Depression and Back Pain, and

22. Low Back Pain – Is it a Slipped Disc.

A few fun articles included promoting-

23. International Send a Card to a Friend Day, m

23.My post on the website The Bad Back Company of my Day in the Life of a Back Pain Sufferer series and 24. Why It’s not to late to make your New Year Resolutions.

25. Finally, my article on Walking and the British Obsession with the Weather which was reposted onto another blog so someone must have liked it.

I hope you have enjoyed my lowdown on subjects covered this month. I am always happy to receive any suggestions so please let me know if you have any.

Happiness is … looking forward to something.

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WALKING AND THE BRITISH OBSESSION WITH THE WEATHER…

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A few interesting facts about the British obsession with the weather.

Did you know that a survey has shown that the British spend nearly six months just ‘talking’ about the weather. Apparently we are obsessed with the English weather. It’s one of the most common ways to start a conversation, which check-out staff at supermarkets have to listen to time and time again.


We spend almost five times a day talking about it and spend longer discussing it than we do discussing sport or work!!


Women talk about it more than chatting about their men, love lives and gossip and twitter gets around 500,000+ tweets a week about it.


Older people apparently have three times as many conversations about it and still believe in old wives tales, such as , cows sitting down (rain comes) and red sky at night (shepherds delight). Even Twitter gets over 500,000 ‘tweets’ about it.

These findings prove that we are a nation who is totally obsessed with the weather and how we can go from one season to another in one day.


But, no matter what the weather walking or cycling in it, are the two most popular ways at the moment to keep fit. With watches and phones that can count our steps for us some of us become obsessed with trying to get in our daily 10,000 steps. Even health companies have got on board who will reward you if you keep up with your steps.

For me personally, I do have a watch that counts my steps and I do check it regularly to see how I am getting on and if I do not manage to get out for a walk due to the weather !! (I’m not one to walk in the rain) then I do try to do a few more steps up and down my stairs but 10,000 is out of my league. My back just doesn’t like me to do more than 7,000 but I feel the benefit of that so it’s better than nothing.

The NHS point out that walking is simple, free and one of the easiest ways to get more active, lose weight and become healthier.

Sometimes overlooked as a form of exercise, walking briskly can help you build stamina, burn excess calories and make your heart healthier.

You do not have to walk for hours. A brisk 10-minute daily walk has lots of health benefits and counts towards your recommended 150 minutes of weekly exercise.

The British Heart Foundation has some walking plans you can follow and other programs available online are Weight Watchers, or you could sign up and walk for your favourite charity. I am sure Captain Tom has inspired many people to do,just that.

Walk for Water have set up challenges for March for people to walk 4, 8 or 12 kilometres for their charity. Walk where you can, when you can, and raise funds to help make clean water normal for everyone, everywhere.

Walk for the millions of women and children who walk distances like this every day to get the water they need to survive.

All distances reflect a walk that women and girls around the world have to take each day to reach water. Women and girls like Tiyamike, Majory and Felisberta.

When you Walk for Water, you’re helping to give Tiyamike, Majory, Felisberta and others across the world the power to change their own lives, forever.

Lots of other charities have walks you can sign up for including Memory Walk, for Alzheimer’s, British Heart Foundation, Help the Heroes and lots more to choose from online.

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IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO MAKE YOUR NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS…

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An article from Health Plus on making New Year resolutions.

It’s thought that over 25% of the population makes New Year’s resolutions each year, with the top three resolutions all focusing on health and diet. Despite such optimism, only a quarter of those who set New Year goals, manage to stick to them. Here, Simon Bandy of nutritional supplement specialists Health Plus, highlights what health resolutions we should be setting and when if we really want to form new habits..

Winter:

·  Eat porridge and risotto – If you want to get more vitamins and fibre into your diet, eating porridge or barley risotto is an easy and delicious way to achieve this. A nourishing bowl of something hot is just what you need on a chilly day. The goodness in these winter grains can help maintain blood glucose levels, keep hunger at bay and slow gastro-intestinal transit—fantastic benefits and all you have to do is eat!  

·  Get outdoors – The lack of sunlight during winter can disrupt our sleep and waking cycles. No matter the weather, try and get outdoors in natural daylight as much as possible. Country walks have been shown to reduce symptoms of depression, while other benefits include expending more calories (your body consumes more calories when it’s cold), and boosting the capacity of your heart; when it’s cold, the body seeks to maintain its internal temperature at a constant level of about 37°C, by increasing the flow of blood. The heart will therefore pump more quickly and become stronger. It’s also thought that practising power walking in winter can reduce illness as your body will gradually get used to the cold and strengthen its defences to attack winter germs.

Spring:

·  Visit the farmers’ market – An easy way to kick-start your spring health goals is to increase your servings of non-starchy vegetables and fresh fruits. This is the perfect time of year to check out your local farmers’ markets and experience the health benefits that shopping locally can provide. The food there will have normally been grown locally, be in season, and picked that morning or the day before, so it’s fresher than anything you could get at a supermarket, and therefore higher in nutrients and antioxidants. Furthermore, you’ll be able to experience some amazing spring produce, such as artichokes, asparagus, beetroot, gooseberries, rhubarb and more (all of which have additional health benefits in their own right).

·  Clear the mind – Working on your mental health is important no matter the time of year. However, for those who may not have thought about their mind’s activity before, spring can be a great time to start, thanks to the warmer weather, lighter nights and the awakening of new life. The practice of mindfulness can benefit your health in so many ways from relieving stress and lowering blood pressure, to treating chronic pain, alleviating gastrointestinal difficulties, and improving sleep. Anyone can practice mindfulness and the charity Mind offers some great exercises and tips to get you started.

Summer:

·  Quit smoking – A lot of people set New Year’s Day as the date to stop smoking. However, summer can be a much better time to quit; daily routines change with more sunshine, making us feel more relaxed, so smoking triggers are less frequent. Holidays home or away can also help as key components of your day change. That quick morning coffee and a cigarette may become a relaxed breakfast of juices and pastries, for instance, without the association of the cigarette. Activities also differ, distracting you from your usual habits and triggers.

·  Reduce screen time – Smartphones, tablets, computers, and televisions—too much screen time can really affect our health from reducing brain functionality, causing eye strain, promoting poor posture, and increasing the risk of obesity, heart disease and even depression. Summer is an ideal time to give our bodies a break and put some simple changes in place that can hopefully be carried through, or adapted, to suit all year round. Suggestions include: not eating in front of a screen—make the most of the warmer nights and enjoy alfresco dining; putting a ban on your phone and laptop—use the lighter evenings to read a book, go for a stroll, play a game of tennis, or take up a new craft hobby; and meeting face to face rather than texting or using social media to catch up—the days are longer in the summer so there’s more time for morning coffee chats or an evening drink in the local pub.

Autumn:

·  Love your liver – With Christmas around the corner your liver may be put to the test. Autumn is a great time of year to start introducing small changes to your diet that will not only benefit your liver over the festive season but will also help detox your body long term. Try cutting down on caffeine and setting yourself goals for drinking more water. Consider taking supplements like Liver Kind which are high in vitamins, minerals, artichoke and key amino acids—great for helping to detoxify the body and eliminate harmful chemicals.

·  Go to bed –It’s not just children that should have a regular bedtime; adults can benefit too. A little structure when it comes to bedtime can aid weight loss, lower blood sugar and blood pressure, and reduce the risk of heart disease. Going to bed and waking up at a regular time every day can also help maintain a well-functioning metabolism. Winter is the perfect time to introduce your body to a new routine; not only do the darker nights naturally make us sleepier, but our bodies also generally sleep better when it’s a little cooler.